New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday lauded health workers doing remarkable work towards India’s fight against Tuberculosis (TB) as the nation recorded a significant reduction in TB cases, nearly twice the global rate of decline.

“The latest WHO Global tuberculosis report 2025 highlights that India has recorded a commendable reduction in TB incidence since 2015, and it is nearly twice the global rate of decline,” PM Modi said in an X post.

This is one of the sharpest drops seen anywhere in the world.

The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction with the vast treatment coverage of the disease throughout the nation and the effort made by departments involved in the treatment process.

“Equally heartening is the expansion of treatment coverage, the fall in ‘missing cases’ and the sustained rise in treatment success. I compliment all those who have worked towards achieving this success,” PM Modi stated.

“We remain committed to ensuring a healthy and fit India,” the Prime Minister said further.

In a significant development, TB incidence (new cases emerging each year) in India has seen a sharp reduction of 21 per cent – from 237 per lakh population in 2015 to 187 per lakh population in 2024, according to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) ‘Global TB Report 2025’.

This is almost double the pace of the decline observed globally at 12 per cent.

According to Health Ministry, India’s innovative case finding approach, driven by the swift uptake of newer technologies, decentralisation of services and large scale community mobilisation, has led to the country’s treatment coverage to surge to over 92 per cent in 2024, from 53 per cent in 2015 – with 26.18 lakh TB patients being diagnosed in 2024, out of an estimated incidence of 27 lakh cases.

As a result, the number of “missing cases”—those who contracted TB but did not notify the program—has decreased from an estimated 15 lakh in 2015 to less than one lakh in 2024.

Furthermore, the number of MDR TB patients in the nation has not increased significantly. The TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’s treatment success rate rises to 90 per cent, surpassing the global treatment success rate of 88 per cent.

Additionally, India has made great strides in lowering the number of TB-related deaths, as evidenced by the fact that the country’s TB mortality rate dropped from 28 per lakh in 2015 to 21 per lakh in 2024.

–IANS

aps/na